The government is to launch a public awareness in 2000 of the dangers of buying counterfeit goods. In addition to the obvious disadvantages such as buying poor goods, having no consumer protection, and threatening legitimate businesses, the government wishes to stress that some counterfeit goods are dangerous, and much counterfeiting is used to fund international crime such as drug dealing. One recent seizure of counterfeit CDs in London established a link with the Russian mafia.
Examples of dangerous counterfeit goods include:
- washing powder which contained ingredients that burn the skin;
- health drinks that contained ten times the permitted level of ephedrine;
- children’s videos recorded over pornographic material that had not been properly erased;
- perfume that lasted only a few minutes, had unhygienic contents, and could cause a skin reaction;
- hand tools made of such brittle steel that they were likely to break leaving sharp edges; and
- computer software carrying a virus.
[2000]